Rites of Passage
by Madder88
Summary: Haruno Sakura, a girl full of spirit, comes into the ordinary, seemingly meaningless life of Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke, who is not initially interested in love, realizes his own feelings and must battle his complex of being the brother of notorious Itachi.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1—New School Year

It was the beginning of a new school year. Haruno Sakura, a 15 year-old high school student, was looking into the mirror. Today was her first day of high school. After much studying, Sakura was able to get into the city's best high school, Konoha High.

"I wonder who's going to be in my class," she said as she brushed her hair and put it up in a ponytail. "I'm a high school student now. I'm going to try the ponytail."

"Aren't you leaving soon, Sakura?" her mom shouted from downstairs.

"I'm coming, Mom!" She picked up her leather bag and ran down the stairs. "Mom, I'm off!" She waved at her mom and went out the door.

Her friend, Hinata, was supposed to be waiting for her in front of the bus stop. Sakura started running since she was a few minutes late.

"Wow, it's already 7:30!" She said as she shot a glance at her watch.

"Hey, Sakura-Chan! Why are you running? It's only 7:30!" a boy suddenly appeared from another road and joined her.

"Naruto! Your buttons are not buttoned right! Did you even touch your hair today? And… school starts at 7:50! We have to hurry!" Sakura told the boy as they ran together towards the bus stop.

The boy's name was Uzumaki Naruto. Sakura and Naruto are neighbors. Sakura was always the studious one and Naruto was the complete opposite. Sakura was, in fact, wondering why he was able to get into to Konoha High. They were, nonetheless, close friends. Naruto has had feelings for Sakura since they were in middle school.

"Hinata!" Sakura shouted.

"Sakura..It's um," Hinata tried to look at her watch.

"I know, I know! It's 7:35! Let's run!" Sakura grabbed Hinata by her wrist and kept running.

The three arrived at Konoha High at 7:40. There was a huge crowd in front of the entrance. The class members were listed on the windows of the entrance.

"Oh my god! We are all in 1-C!" Sakura shouted in excitement.

"Yeaa!" Naruto grinned.

Hinata just smiled and blushed.

They went to their classroom 1-C. There were many familiar faces from their middle school as well as many unfamiliar faces from other middles schools in the city. The students were chatting in different groups. Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata entered the classroom.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! You're in my class!" a girl shouted from the back of the classroom.

Her name was Tenten. She was a trusted friend of Sakura from childhood. She gestured the three to come to her. They walked through the little aisles between the desks and reached Tenten.

"So, you guys are all in the same class, huh? This is going to be fun!" Tenten said.

At that moment, a male teacher entered the room. The loud whispered and giggles subsided and everyone found a seat.

"Good morning. My name is Mr. Hatake. I'll be your teacher for this year." He looked around the room and went on, "I have a seating chart, so let me take a quick attendance."

Mr. Hatake started calling names and the students responded one by one. Then he said, "All right, I'll call the names again and this time, fill in the seats from this corner of the room." He pointed at the right front corner of the classroom. The students stood up and started to change their seats. Sakura sat in her seat, which was behind Yamanaka Ino, a girl from her middle school. Soon, a boy sat next to her across the aisle. Sakura looked in his way and said, "Hi." The boy looked at her and said, "Hi."

This boy's name was Uchiha Sasuke. He seemed quiet but there seemed to be passion in his eyes.

"Sakura-Chan! I'm almost right next to you!" waved at her from his seat, which was right behind Sasuke's.

"Hey, Naruto. Where does Hinata sit?" Sakura asked.

"Hinata? I thought I saw her…Oh, she's right there," Naruto looked at the furthest corner of the room next to the door.

Hinata was sitting in the last seat in the first vertical row of the desks. She was looking this way. Sakura waved at her and she smiled shyly. She soon found Tenten about four seats in front of Hinata.

"Ok, everyone, we are going to play a little game called 'The Introduction Game,'" Mr. Hatake addressed the class. "Everyone, take out a piece of paper and you'll be paired up with the person next to you"

The students looked around to see who their partners were. Sakura's partner was Sasuke. She smiled at him and he just looked at her.

"You and your partner will be asking each other a series of questions. Then, you will be writing them down on that sheet of paper. I'll write the questions on the board," Mr. Hatake turned around and picked up a chalk.

The students watched him write all the questions.

"Ok, number one. What is your name?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he asnswered.

"Uchiha Sasuke..," Sakura wrote it down on her paper. "Ok, my name is Haruno Sakura," she said as she raised her head.

Sasuke calmly wrote it down.

"Number two…what is your favorite food?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"……….Udon," Sasuke answered after a while.

"You like udon? Me, too!" Sakura said excitedly.

Sasuke smiled a little.

"Are you going to write that?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke wrote it down immediately.

They went through eight more questions.

"Is everyone done with their questions? Now, I'm going to have each pair come up and introduce their partner to the class," Mr. Hatake instructed the class.

The classroom was suddenly filled with whispers, giggles, and chitchats.

---20 minutes later---

"Wow, that was a blast. I haven't played that kind of game since the elementary school!" Tenten said.

"I know. That was cool, though. I got to know a new person already," Sakura said.

Naruto came over with Hinata behind him.

"So, how's it going?" Naruto grinned.

"Not much. Just chatting. What do we have next?"

"I…I think it's … Math next..," Hinata said.

"Math? Cool. I like math," Sakura answered.

"Hey...," Naruto poked on Sakura's shoulder.

"What?" Sakura turned around.

"Your introduction partner's kind of freaky! He's staring at me," Naruto said with a disgusted expression on his face as he looked at Sasuke.

"Probably because you're a weirdo," Tenten laughed.

Hinata giggled.

------------6 hours later-----------

"Ok everyone, the homework is on the board. Please don't forget to write them down. And have a great day!" Mr. Hatake said.

The students stood up and they started packing.

"Sakura-chan, are you ready?" Tenten and Hinata came.

"Yeah, hold on," Sakura packed her books into her bag.

Naruto and joined them and they started walking. Sasuke was also packing his book into his blue backpack. Then, he noticed something shiny on the floor. It was Sakura's key ring. He picked it up and looked at it. The key ring was a translucent, pink stone. He picked up his backpack and put it over his right shoulder.

Meanwhile, Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, and Naruto were walking out of the school gate.

"I think I'll like the class. There are a lot of funny people," Tenten said.

"Including me?" Naruto asked.

"You are not funny," Tenten said.

Hinata giggled.

"Sakura-Chan, what are you looking for?" Naruto asked Sakura, who was looking inside her bag.

"I can't find my key chain…Maybe I left it in the classroom," Sakura answered with a worried face.

"What! " Naruto said.

"I'll just run back and get it. You guys go ahead," Sakura said.

Sakura started running back to her classroom. She ran up the stairs and hustle to her classroom.

Sasuke came out of the classroom and started walking down the hallway. He saw Sakura running in his direction. He looked at her face and noticed that she must be looking for the key chain.

"Hey" Sasuke showed the key ring on his palm.

Sakura stopped and said, "Sasuke-kun, you picked it up for me? Where was it?"

"It was next to your desk," Sasuke answered.

"Oh, I'm so relieved. Thanks! Thank you so much! This key chain…I got it from Naruto when I was in middle school. He went into the mountain to find this special stone for me.

Sasuke just observed Saskura regaining her energy.

"Oh, hey! Do you have a screen name?" Sakura asked.

"What?" Sasuke said.

"A screen name. If you have one, I'll give you mine and we can talk online. You know, I like getting to know people!" Sakura said.

"Um…no. I don't have such thing," Sasuke asnswered.

Sakura took out a notepad from her bag and started writing something on it. Sasuke watched her write.

"Here! This is my screen name. I wrote down the website address for the chat if you want to join. I'm on every night," Sakura handed him the paper. "I have to get going now! Nice meeting you today, Sasuke-kun! See you tomorrow!" She ran down the hallway.

Sasuke read the paper and turned around. Sakura was no longer in the hallway.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2---- The Chat room

"I'm home!" Sakura came into the house.

"How was school?" her mom welcomed her home.

"It was good. We played a little game to get to know the classmates and it was actually quite neat," Sakura told her mom.

"The snacks are on the table," her mom smiled.

"Yay!"' Sakura took off her shoes and went to the dining room.

There were potato chips in a bowl. Sakura sat down and turned on the TV. She ate the potato chips and watched her favorite TV show for about half an hour. Then, she picked up her bag and went to her room upstairs. She turned on her laptop and logged into her chatting account.

"GirLiNpInk002..," she entered.

As soon as she logged on Naruto sent her an instant message. "YellowPunk9: Hey! Did you find the key ring?"

GirLiNpInk002: Yeah. Sasuke-kun picked up for me.

YellowPunk9: Your partner.

GirLiNpInk002: Yeah. He's really nice. I invited him to chat online.

YelloPunk9: Is he coming?

GirLiNpInk002: I don't know.

Sakura received an IM from BlueNinja128

"Hey."

GirLiNpInk002: "Who is this?"

BlueNinja128: "Sasuke."

GirlLiNpInk002: "Hey, Sasuke-kun! You made a screen name. So how are you?"

BlueNinja128: "Good. You?"

GirLiNpInk002: "I'm good, too. Hold on."

GirLiNpInk002: "Sasuke-kun is here. Wanna talk to him?"

YellowPunk9: "k."

GirLiNpInk002: "I'm talking to Naruto, too. Here's in screen name. BlueNinja128."

BlueNinja128: "Thanks."

GirLiNpInk002: "Thanks for the key chain today."

BlueNinja128: "No problem."

GirLiNpInk002: "You're not that talkative are you?"

BlueNinja128: "Depends…I'm not that outgoing, I guess."

GirLiNpInk002: "That's ok. IMing always help me get to know people more…especially new people."

YellowPunk9: "Hey, Hey. Are you there?"

GirLiNpInk002: "Oh yeah. Sorry. I was talking to Sasuke-kun."

YellowPunk9: "Mom's calling me. I g2g."

GirLiNpInk002: "Will you come back?"

YellowPunk9: "I don't know. I'll try! C-ya!"

Naruto signed off.

GirLiNpInk002: "Naruto left."

BlueNinja128: "I know."

GirLiNpInk002: "Do you have any siblings?"

BlueNinja128: "I have a brother…Itachi. He seldom comes home…"

GirLiNpInk002: "How come?"

BlueNinja128: "He dropped out of college and he's just riding in motor cycle with his friends. My parents are not very happy."

GirLiNpInk002: "Oh..well…in time, I'm sure he'll find what he wants to do."

BlueNinja128: "Do you have any siblings?"

GirLiNpInk002: "Nope. Naruto's been my neighbor for all our lives for he's like a brother to me."

BlueNinja128: "Oh. Yeah, he said you are a really good friend."

GirLiNpInk002: "Really? He can be really dumb but he's really sweet. I know you guys will be good friends, too."

BlueNinja002: "I have to go. See you tomorrow."

GirLiNpInk002: "Ok. Nice chatting with you! Bye!"

Sasuke stared at the screen for a while and sighed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 ---- Sakura's Secret

The next day, Sakura was walking to school. Hinata and Tenten had asked her if she wanted to meet up with them and walk to school everyday, but Sakura refused because she tended to be late. When she was passing by the bus stop, she spotted Sasuke on the other side of the road.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura waved at him.

Sasuke looked in her direction and showed his hand.

Sakura hurried across the road while the pedestrian sign was still on.

"Good morning!" she came next to him.

"Good morning..," he greeted back.

"Yo!" Naruto came and pushed Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at Naruto.

"Nooo..don't give me that look, Sasuke! I won't disturb you two anymore. OK?" Naruto tapped on Sasuke's shoulder and left.

"Oh, Naruto…" Sakura shook her head.

Sasuke watched her from the side. She looked in his direction and he faced back front. They walked to school together.

During the science lab, Sakura and Sasuke were paired up again. The lab was to find 10 different types of leaves from the campus and analyze them. The students were sent out to find the leaves. They went out the building and went into the forest next to the school. Sakura picked up some leaves and so did Sasuke.

"That was really easy. This is my favorite place. I found it when I was little but since I wasn't a high school student, I couldn't really sneak in here after I got into middle school," Sakura said as she looked around nostalgically.

"Does… Naruto know this place?" Sasuke asked.

"No, actually… Wow, he really doesn't. This was like my safe haven and also an oasis. I just wanted to be by myself whenever I came here..," Sakura said.

Sasuke just listened.

They went out of the woods and ran into Naruto!

"What were you guys doing!" Naruto got furious.

"Nothing," Sasuke said solemnly and poked Naruto's head as he passed by him.

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto turned around.

"We were just collecting leaves. Where are yours?" Sakura asked Naruto.

"I'm…I'm already done! Who do you think I am? I know everything around here!" Naruto said proudly.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other and laughed. Sakura was glad to have made a friend on the second day of her school.

After school, Sakura was walking with Hinata and saw a boy from another class. His name was Hyuuga Neji. Sakura secretly liked Neji. Hinata also knew about it and so did Tenten and Naruto. Naruto, however, did not like Neji because he was not very nice to him. He was hoping that Sakura would find someone better than someone who is cold like Neji.

Sakura did have a reason for liking Neji. When she was in the last year of elementary school, her dad brought his business partner for dinner and Neji came with him. He was the son of Mr. Hyuuga. Mr. Hyuuga had recently moved to Konota. Since Sakura liked making friends, she started talking to Neji. They became somewhat close and she would invite him over to her room whenever he came with his dad. However, when they entered middle school, Neji made many friends and they never got to hang out together. He was in the "cool" bunch. Sakura's father was promoted to become the head of the department and he no longer brought Mr. Hyuuga home. Sakura would see Neji at school but as time passed, it seemed like they weren't really friends anymore. Sakura was sure that Neji liked her in either way, but he no longer talked to her. Only when she greeted him, he greeted back. "He must be shy," she thought. However, nothing happened and the middle school years ended. Sakura was thinking that Sasuke was much more honest and nicer than Neji. Maybe she would go better with Sasuke. But he was her friend. Once she decided something, Sakura could not change her mind. She was ready to make a change.

-----------------------------------------

**Author Note**: I hope you like Chapter 3. Things are finally opening up. Please let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 ---- Challenge

Four weeks passed. Sakura had completely adjusted herself to her high school life. For the first four weeks of school, Sakura observed Neji and whenever they passed by each other in the hallway, she looked at him to see what he would do. She tried different hairstyles to see he would notice her. He seemed to be looking at her quite frequently and sometimes she thought of waving at him. However, whenever she noticed his eyes, he would turn his face away. She was thinking too much that she could not even ask her friends for advice.

It was Sunday. She went online but none of her friends were online.

"I guess I'll just take a walk outside and clear my mind," Sakura sighed and got up.

She went outside and walked down the street. She went to the park in her neighborhood and sat down on the bench. She sighed again.

"I don't know why but this is requiring a lot of courage," Sakura thought.

She was thinking of the time when Neji was nice. He would smile and talk more. One time he caught her looking at him. "Maybe he was just going to look this way as usual but I was looking at him first..," Sakura wondered. "These days he seems to be so competitive and he just changed so much… It must be his peers, too…I know he's still the same person," she thought.

"You can do it! It'll make you feel a lot better either way!" Sakura stood up and assured herself.

She went out of the park and headed home. She was walking in her home's direction and she found Neji and his friends walking in her direction.

"Oh no. He's coming this way," Sakura hid behind a tree. Then she thought, "What good would it do to keep postponing this?"

Sakura came out onto the street and when the group came close enough, she said, "Hey, Neji. I need to talk to you."

"Oh all right," he said.

"Um…" Sakura felt her words stuck in her throat. "Um…you know, I've always noticed that you are looking at me and …what does that mean?" She managed to push some out.

"What?" he made an annoyed face.

Sakura was shocked to see such unexpected expression on his face.

"You're looking at me," she said.

"When?" he asked.

"W..always!" Sakura said a little angrily.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Neji said.

"…" Sakura stared at his face and only saw someone else's face staring back at her coldly. "Never mind..," she said and turned around.

She started walking faster and once she turned the corner, she started running. At that moment, it started raining cats and dogs. She did not care. She started crying like a broken dam. It felt like all the anxiety and excitement that had been built up was collapsed. It was solely unbelievable, yet bitterly, it was the truth. It started thundering. She was a few blocks away from home. She could not run anymore. She stopped and cried. Suddenly, she felt something over her head. It was an umbrella. She looked to her right and Sasuke was holding an umbrella.

"Sa..Sasuke-kun..," Sakura said incoherently.

"You'll---" Sasuke was surprised to see Sakura's crying face. His eyes slightly widened. He went on, "You'll catch a cold…"

Sakura suddenly hugged Sasuke and cried on his shoulder. Sasuke did not know what to do. He awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder. She did not seem to stop crying. She cried for a long time. When she was done crying, she looked up and looked at Sasuke's face. Sasuke showed no emotions. He only stared into her greenish, beady eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just had a bad day..," Sakura looked down shyly.

"…It's fine," he let her go.

At that moment, Neji's group was coming around the corner. As they passed by, they were looking at Sakura and Sasuke. From the expression on Sakura's face and how she turned her back on them, Sasuke figured out that something happened between one of them and he guessed that it was probably Neji, because he was looking back at Sakura after the group passed by.

Sakura stared at the bunch with hateful eyes for a while.

"I'll take you home..," Sasuke said.

"It's ok, I'll be fine," Sakura said as she looked up at him.

Sasuke offered his umbrella to Sakura.

"…Thanks," she said.

She started walking and Sasuke watched her walk away. Sakura stopped and turned around. Her pink hair that is usually tightly put up in a pony tail was down and drenched.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Sakura smiled.

Sasuke smiled a little and nodded.

**Author Note**: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 ----- Sasuke's Realization

The next day, the school started as usual. Sasuke was sitting in his seat and Sakura and Naruto walked in. He turned around to look at them. Naruto came to sit behind Sasuke and said, "Yo!" Sakura came to sit next to Sasuke and said, "Good morning, Sasuke-kun." She had her usual smile on and her beady eyes were beady again.

During the classes, Sasuke watched Sakura from the side as he rested his head on his arm. He was thinking of what had happened yesterday. He was surprised when Sakura suddenly brought herself to him and hugged him…and cried for a long time. His heart was beating fast.

The bell rang. The students stood up and started stretching and chatting. Sakura turned to Sasuke and said, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I'm fine now. You really made me feel better." She smiled. Sasuke just smiled with the corner of his lips. Tenten came over from the other side of Sakura.

"Where were you yesterday? I called you?" Tenten asked Sakura.

"Oh…nothing. I was just taking a walk outside," Sakura said and smiled.

"Taking a walk? In that rain and thunderstorm?" Tenten asked doubtfully.

"…Mm-Hmm, I just went to the bookstore afterwards," Sakura made up an excuse.

Tenten looked at Sasuke and caught him staring at Sakura with his head rested on his arm. She looked at Naruto and Naruto had been aware of that as well. Naruto suddenly poked Sasuke in the head and said, "What are you looking at?" Sasuke made a stern face and said, "Nothing," though he was blushing. He stood up and walked out to the hallway. Naruto was thinking that Sasuke might have feelings for Sakura.

Sasuke was walking down the hallway and he saw Neji and his friends. He hid behind the corner at the stairs and listened to their conversation.

"So, what was up with that yesterday?" one of them asked Neji.

"I don't know. She was giving me weird looks all the time and then finally yesterday she asked me why _I_ was looking at her all the time," Neji shrugged.

"But you get those kind of looks from girls anyway, don't you?" another friend of Neji said.

"I guess…They're all the same," Neji said coldly.

Sasuke was gripping his fist really tight as he listened. Then, the bunch came around the corner and found Sasuke. Neji looked at him for a while said, "Hey, you were with Sakura yesterday, weren't you?" Sasuke glared at him.

"Wait. He's Itachi's brother!" one of them said.

They all back off.

"Are you Uchiha Itachi's brother?" another one asked.

"I can already see the hatred in his eyes, too," Neji said.

"No love, just hate. That's all you know, right?" another guy added.

"Well, I don't care what you do to Sakura," Neji went on, "It's not like she's mine anyway."

Sasuke did his best to keep his anger down and watched the bunch go down the stairs.

"It's not like she's mine anyway…" Neji's words were circulating in Sasuke's head. Something about it bothered him.

Sasuke walked back to the classroom and went back to his seat.

"Where were you?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke was somewhat relieved to see Sakura's face. He could not understand how such a sweet and individualistic person like Sakura can be the same as other girls. He could not forgive Neji for hurting Sakura's feelings. Even though she pretended to be normal, he knew that she was deeply hurt inside.

"Uh…school store. It was closed..," Sasuke asnswered.

"Oh, ok," Sakura nodded.

Sasuke could no longer ignore the uncontrollable feeling that seemed to eat him from the inside. For the last four weeks, his feelings for Sakura had been building up gradually. He had never liked anyone and I thought he would never. He was never interested in so devoted to a girl, but now he knew so sure that this was that was called "love." Neji's friend's remark, "No love, only hate. That's all you know, right?" was stuck in his heart like a glass shard. Maybe it was good to be honest and accept his own feelings like Sakura did for Neji. Though, in her case, her feelings were neglected and turned away, maybe he could be the one to catch and return them.

**Author Note**: That was Chapter 5. You are starting to get into the real part of the story! I hope you liked it! Please feel free to give me any comments!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 ---- Itachi's Return

Since Sasuke accepted his own feelings for Sakura, one thing was stuck in his mind. It was Itachi. Itachi was not a college drop-out. All Sasuke knew was that Itachi could really be a threat to his life. Ever since he could remember, Itachi only knew violence. Sasuke, physically, knew this. His parents could no longer control Itachi. Nothing but his own desire mattered to him. Compassion had no room in his heart. People feared Itachi and Sasuke hated the fact that he was his brother.

It was another weekend. A group project for science was due Monday. Sakura invited Sasuke to her house, but Sasuke said that it is better to work in his house because his parents were not going to be home for a week. Sakura agreed and decided to go to his house.

Sakura was walking to Sasuke's house. She arrived at his house. When she was about to ring the bell, she heard something crash inside the house. It sounded like some kind of glass or silverware. Before he could do anything, she heard another crash.

"Sasuke-kun!" she opened the door and went inside. There was a trace of dirt on the floor, meaning that someone entered the house without taking the shoes off. The trace led upstairs. Sakura was overtaken by this gruesome feeling that something horrible might be happening to Sauke upstairs.

"Sasuke-kun!" she yelled from downstairs.

"You disgust me!" someone yelled upstairs.

She started running up the stairs. As soon as she turned around for another flight, someone bumped into her with great speed. They both ran into the wall.

"Owww…" Sakura opened her eyes and was shocked to find out that it was Sasuke. He was bleeding and weak. "Sa…Sasuke-kun, are you ok?" Sakura asked frantically. He was evidently not ok.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked as she held Sasuke in her arms.

"Who am I? I am Uchiha Itachi," Itachi answered.

"Uchiha Itachi..!" Sakura thought.

Itachi started coming down the stairs. Sakura tried to get Sasuke to get up but he could not. She said, "Sasuke-kun! Get up!-----AH!"

Itachi grabbed Sakura by her throat.

"So Sasuke's got a girl," Itachi showed an eerie smile that was abhorrently cold.

"Don't touch her…." Sasuke said as he grunted.

Sakura kicked Itachi in solar plexus and Itachi let her go.

"You!" Itachi was going to get Sakura.

Sakura took off her backpack and swag with full force across Itachi's face. Then, she carried Sasuke down the stairs. Itachi watched her carry his brother away from him and out the door. She took out her cell phone and was about to call the ambulance.

"I'm fine..," Sasuke managed to tell her.

He lost his consciousness and he was suddenly inert. Sakura fell to the ground since Sasuke's weight suddenly pulled her down.

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!" She yelled.

Sasuke woke up on a bed. The blurred vision became clear and he got up to look around. The bed was pink and the room was neatly organized. He saw Sakura's backpack on the floor. Sasuke's heart was beating really fast. He was also wearing a big t-shirt and shorts. He blushed and could not do anything but be overwhelmed by embarrassment.

The door opened and Sakura came in.

"You're awake. This is my home. Don't worry," she came by the bed and put down the tray, on which there was a glass of orange juice.

"How..," Sasuke started.

"You collapsed in front of your house. So I called Naruto's help me carry you," Sakura smiled.

"…," Sasuke was happy but was also very embarrassed.

"And um…those are Naruto's. The t-shirt and the shorts," Sakura pointed at Sasuke's t-shirt. "Have some orange juice," she said.

Sasuke took the glass and drank the orange juice. He coughed a little.

"You're safe here. I don't think you should go home," Sakura insisted. "For now, you should rest. Luckily your injury was not too bad."

Sakura put her hands on Sasuke's shoulder and urged him to lie down again. She put the comforter on him and stood up.

"Sakura…you're kind," Sasuke said.

"Thanks…I just wanted you to be safe because you're my friend," Sakura replied.

"Are you afraid of Itachi?" he asked.

"Oh. No, I'm not. He's such a horrible brother, unlike you," Sakura shook her head. "I'm going to turn the light off…my dad gave me a special permission to let you sleep here tonight." She smiled.

Sasuke felt safe and he was happy that he could sleep on her bed.

"I'm going to sleep in my mom's room, so don't worry. And…Naruto's window is right outside of mine so you can talk to him if you want," Sakura went out of the room.

Sasuke immediately fell asleep and did not wake up till the morning.

Next morning, he opened his eyes and found Sakura looking into his face. His eyes widened and he jumped up.

"Don't move! I was going to put a band aid on your cheek!" Sakura said.

Sakura put the band aid on his cheeks. Sasuke was blushing but Sakura did not notice.

"I called Ms. Kureinai (the science teacher) and she gave us a four-day extension," Sakura told Sasuke.

"Thanks..," he said.

"You can't go home for a while, can you? I don't think you should," Sakura asked Sasuke.

"Does that mean I get to stay here…?" Sasuke wondered.

"Naruto is going to let you stay at his house for a while, so you won't feel comfortable here," Sakura smiled.

Sasuke sighed and bit his lips.

Sakura went out of the room and brought Sasuke's clothes. They were soft and smelled good. Sakura went out again to let Sasuke change.

"Yo! How're you feeling?" Naruto came into the room.

"Good," Sasuke answered without looking at Naruto.

"Geez, but that was really bad. Yesterday. Sakura was almost crying on the phone. I was so surprised and thought that someone died or something," Naruto said as he put his hands on behind his head.

Sasuke looked at him and said, "Thanks."

"Oh. Sure. No problem. You're a good friend, Sasuke," Naruto grinned.

Sasuke and Naruto said thanks for Sakura's family and went to Naruto's house.

**Author Note**: Did I do ok with the Uchiha brothers? That was only a bit of their relationship, though. More is coming up. I greatly appreciate your reviews! This is my first story to post on fanfiction.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 ---- Naruto's House

Naruto took Sasuke home. He led him upstairs to his room. It was fairly clean and organized. There was only one bed and it was neatly made.

"Your room looks neater than I expected," Sasuke said.

"Thanks. Now you know I'm actually very organized. Hehe," Naruto grinned.

Sasuke looked around and noticed that there was a picture of Naruto and Sakura when they were little. Sasuke picked up the picture frame and looked at it closely. Sakura's eyes were beady and her face was lively. Sasuke saw Naruto's reflection on the picture frame and turned around.

"That's me and Sakura," Naruto said.

"I know," Sasuke answered.

"I've always liked her since I was in middle school," Naruto said and sighed.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and said, "Why do you like her?"

"Why? You wouldn't?" Naruto asked back.

"..," Sasuke did not say anything.

"I'm going to get the sleeping bag. I'll be back," Naruto told Sasuke and went out of the room.

Sasuke went to the window and saw Sakura's window only about three meters away. The curtain was shut and it was swaying gracefully in the air. Sasuke was thinking about her face when she was looking into his face. He blushed. He kept staring at the curtain.

Suddenly, Naruto poked Sasuke's head from the side and pushed him over.

"What, you're looking at Sakura's window! You've fallen for her, haven't you?" Naruto said comically.

Right at that moment, the curtain opened and Sakura looked out the window.

"Naruto. Sasuke-kun," she said surprised.

"He was looking at----" Naruto was pushed out of Sakura's sight by Sasuke.

"How's Naruto's room?" Sakura asked.

"Uh, it actually looks good..," Sasuke answered shyly as he continued to pin Naruto down on the floor.

"Good to hear," Sakura smiled and went on, "Feel better, Sasuke-kun! I have to do my homework now but I'll keep the window open." Sakura went out of his sight.

Sasuke freed Naruto and headed for the bed.

"What was that for!" Naruto asked as he brushed the dust off himself.

"..," Sasuke kept silent as he sat on the bed.

"Oh, you can sleep on my bed, since you're injured," Naruto said as he put his hands behind his head. "So…by the way, do you really like Sakura?" he asked Sasuke.

Sasuke looked up at Naruto only with his eyes.

"I've noticed that you like her," Naruto said.

Sasuke looked to the side.

"Like the way you lose your words easily when she talks to you," Naruto went on.

"I do," Sasuke finally opened his mouth.

"You do?" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke's eyes widened and he immediately muffled Naruto as he checked Sakura's window.

"Hey!" Naruto got himself out of Sasuke's arms.

Sasuke sat down and sighed.

"I don't really mind it, though," Naruto said.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with doubtful eyes.

"I've always wanted her to have someone that cares about her like you," Naruto said as he started strolling around the room.

"Don't you care about her?" Sasuke said.

"I do. I always have. But as much as I do, I cannot become more than a friend and I don't want to. I just want to make sure that nothing bad happens to her," Naruto smiled with one corner of his lips.

"I've realized that I have feelings for Sakura. She taught me to be honest…I've always suppressed my emotions and desires. But Sakura is the complete opposite. I thought valuing my own desire was just waste of my energy…but she's given me something to look forward to everyday and---" Sasuke was interrupted by Naruto.

"Wow…I've never heard you talk like that before, Sasuke. You sound like someone else..," Naruto said amazedly.

"I wonder if I have enough love in me," Sasuke said as he rested his elbows on his knees.

"What are you talking about?"

"I've always hated being pointed out about being Uchiha Itachi's brother," Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"But you're not Itachi. You're you. You care about Sakura," Naruto sat down on the floor. "Just be yourself. Don't let people's opinion, get through you. Don't let thoughts keep your from doing what you want to do. You said Sakura taught you to be honest. So be honest with your own feelings!" Naruto said to Sasuke.

Sasuke was silent for a moment and said, "Naruto…You…"

"Hehe!" Naruto laughed. "You have my full support!"

Sasuke smiled looking determined.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 ---- The Camp

Two weeks later, Sasuke was fully recovered from his injures. The bruises no longer hurt and the cuts on his face had healed.

It was mid-May. The school had initiated a bonding camp for the first year students. The camp was at Konoha Camp Site. The weather was to be clear and beautiful that weekend on which the camp was planned to be. Everyone was excited and the classroom during recess was full of chats about the camp since the groups were to be announced soon.

After lunch, the groups were posted on the hallway bulletin board. Sasuke went out to the hallway and saw a huge crowd in front of the bulletin board.

"I guess I'll check it after school," Sasuke thought.

Sasuke came back to his seat.

"Sasuke-kun, did you see the list, yet?" Sakura turned to him and asked.

"Uh…No. There were too many people," Sasuke answered. He could not help looking at her eyes.

"Oh. Do you want to check it with me after school?" Sakura said.

Sasuke was surprised, but said, "Ok."

Naruto had his face down on his desk as if he was sleeping, but he was actually listening to the conversation and was smiling.

"Naruto-kun..," Hinata came to Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto raised his head.

"We're in the same group," Hinata smiled.

"Oh are we? Fun! Who else?"

Sasuke listened closely still facing the front.

"Tenten and Shikamaru," Hinata answered.

Sasuke was relieved to hear it.

After the next class, Sasuke went to his locker to get a text book out. When he was coming back to his classroom, he passed by the group list. As he was passing by them, he shot a glance at it and doubted his eyes. He stopped and took a closer look at it. It said, "Group 4: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino." Sasuke looked around and went into the classroom. He sat down in his seat. His heart was beating fast. He could not believe it. It was supposed to be random members. He did not expect Sakura, his usual academic partner, to be in the same group.

After school, Sakura and Sasuke went to the list to check it out.

While Sakura was searching for her name, Sasuke stood next to her like a stick, waiting nervously for her to find their name.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura turned to him.

Sasuke looked at her.

"Have you already found your name?" Sakura sked.

"Um," Sasuke pretended like he was looking at the list.

"I found it! You're in my group!" Sakura exclaimed and smiled excitedly.

Sasuke blushed as Sakura looked happy.

Friday came. In the morning, the students gathered in the school yard for attendance and then got on the buses. The ride was about forty minutes long. Once all the busses arrived at the camp site, the students and the teachers broke up into their groups and headed to their of the camp sites.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino, led by Mr. Hatake arrived at their camp site. Mr. Hatake took out two tents for them to set up.

"Here, I'll give you the directions. You follow and set them up. It's easy," Mr. Hatake said.

Four of them set up the tests next to each other. They were nice tests with thick clothes and stability. Mr. Hatake and Sasuke were to sleep in one of them and the other one was for Sakura and Ino.

"All right. We have some free time," Mr. Hatake said.

"Can we go anywhere we want to?" Ino asked him.

"As long as you go with at least one of your group members, you may," Mr. Hatake answered.

"Sasuke, do you want to go with me?" Ino asked Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Sakura.

Mr. Hatake noticed Sasuke's worried expression and said, "Why don't you all go together?"

"Yeah, that'll be good. After all, this is a bonding activity anyway," Sakura smiled.

Three of them started off into the woods. They had some good conversations. While they were walking on the trails, they ran into Neji's group. Sakura looked at him and he looked at her, too. Sasuke observed the awkward eye contacts and were worried to his stomach. Neji gave Sasuke a look. They passed each other and went on. Sakura was quiet for a while. Sasuke shot glances at Sakura frequently. It seemed that Sakura's feelings for Neji had not been terminated by the incident quite completely.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino went back to their camp site after about half and hour. The next activity was water rafting. The three followed Mr. Hatake to the river, which was about five minutes from their tents.

"Water rafting is not that difficult. It requires coordination and cooperation and there are also some importations things to keep in mind. First, do not try to breathe under water. Second, do not try to stand up in the water. You are supposed to put your legs up if you fall into the water," Mr. Hatake instructed.

The professional arrived and he started teaching the three how to ride a raft. They all wore a helmet and life-saving vest. Sakura was excited to see the clear water and the bubbles created as the water ran over the rocks. After thirty minutes of instruction, the three were ready to go water rafting on the water.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino got on the raft and set off. As they paddled, they looked at the instructor and Mr. Hatake. They were nodding, meaning the paddling was proper. They started going down the stream. The group's coordination was perfect. They avoided each obstacle and went down the stream smoothly. However, after about three minutes, Ino suddenly jumped up and screamed as she spotted an arachnid crawling on Sasuke's shoulder. This rocked the raft and Sakura fell into the water. Sasuke tried to grab Sakura's wrist but she was submerged into the water by the tumbling water. Ino watched Sasuke worriedly. The shores were about ten meters apart.

"Ino, go back to the shore and get some help!" Sasuke instructed her with straight eyes.

"Ok," Ino agreed.

Sasuke jumped into the water and swam for Sakura. The turbulent water kept pulling him underwater.

"Sakura!" Sasuke was desperate to reach her. He stretched out his hand and grabbed Sakura by the wrist. As they were pulled underwater, Sasuke pulled Sakura over and held her securely. Sasuke tried to go up to the surface but the hanging belt of Sakura's life-saving vest got stuck between the rocks. He looked at Sakura. She was struggling for the air. Sasuke took out his knife and cut the belt lose. As they were carried away, Neji spotted them and started running along the shore. The rapid part of the stream was over and the water started to become calm. Sasuke held Sakura up so that she could breathe. He swam for the shore.

Sasuke pushed Sakura up onto the land and he came out of the water. Sakura was unconscious.

"Sakura! Sakura!" Sasuke called her name. He touched her cheeks and it was cold. He took off her life-saving vest and put her down flat on the ground. Sakura needed CPR. Sasuke did not know how. He panicked.

"Sakura! Hey! Sakura!" Sasuke tried calling her name again.

At that moment, Neji came running to them.

"What are you doing! CPR! She needs CPR!" Neji yelled at Sasuke.

Neji got down on his knees and started performing CPR on Sakura. Sasuke stood behind Neji, helplessly. He gripped his fist tightly against his thigh and could do nothing but watch and pray. He was ashamed of himself.

Sakura started coughing.

Neji moved away and Sasuke came forward.

"Are you ok, Sakura?" Sasuke asked.

"…?" Sakura stared at Sasuke and Neji in puzzlement. Then her eyes widened. She got up and looked at Neji. He was standing right next to her.

"He saved your life," Sasuke said solemnly.

Sakura looked at Neji. Neji's cheeks looked red. He turned his face away and stood up. He started walking away.

"Neji," Sakura coughed a few times.

Neji stopped and looked at her from the corner on his eyes.

"Thank you," Sakura smiled weakly.

"Sakura!" Ino and the rescuers were coming.

Neji walked away.

The rescuers arrived and wrapped Sakura in a blanket.

"Sasuke-kun. He jumped into the water for me," Sakura thought. She looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke smiled sadly and followed the group.

**Author Note**: I hope you enjoyed this episode. It is bitter. The story will continue on! Please let me hear what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 ---- The Camp II

Sakura was carried to the school nurse's tent. Since the rafting was in the upper stream and the water was clean, there was no need for Sakura to be sent to the hospital for check-ups of the lungs.

She took a bath in the cabin where some of the teachers stayed. She got into a fresh set of clothing.

"Sakura, I am really sorry about what happened..," Ino said to Sakura with a guilty expression on her face.

"It's ok. I just panicked in the water because it was pulling me down," Sakura answered and smiled.

Sakura turned to Sasuke who was also present in the cabin and said, "Thanks for saving me in the water, Sasuke-kun, " Sakura had a sweet smile on her face.

It made Sasuke feel better. He just nodded.

The three went back to the tents. Sakura went to bed in her tent and Sasuke and Ino stayed outside.

"What was Neji doing there, anyway?" Ino asked casually.

Sasuke froze. He did not know what to say.

"He gave Sakura CPR..," Sasuke heard his own voice in his head.

"Sasuke-kun, a…are you ok?" Ino asked Sasuke as she looked into his face. "You look terribly vexed."

"I am," he said. Sasuke left the place and went by the river and sat down on a rock. He put his elbows on his lap and held his hands together. He stared at the clear water. As he traced the water down stream, the water turned foamy and white. With cold, inanimate eyes Sakura stared into the space. He was zoning out.

"She needs CPR!" Neji's voice echoed in his head.

"Sasuke. Yo, Sasuke!" someone was calling his name.

Sasuke came back to reality and looked up. Naruto was standing in front of him. Sasuke dropped his head.

"I heard about it," Naruto said softly. "He had to do it, though," he went on, "Neji really is not the right person."

Sasuke's eyes were colder than ever. It seemed like he had no desire in the world but to be soaked in hatred and grudge.

"Hey!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the collar and pulled him up. "Uchiha Sasuke! I'm losing you, Sasuke!"

Sasuke's eyes softened.

"You're not that kind of person."

"…"

"If you like Sakura…If you want to change…If you want to prove that you can love…Do it!" Naruto was almost shouting. His eyes were firmly fixed on Sasuke's and the intensity made Sasuke unable to speak.

Sasuke quietly nodded.

Naruto and Sasuke walked back to Sasuke's tent. When they were coming back to the tent, they spotted Neji coming out of the woods from the other side. The two hid behind the bushes and saw Neji approach Sakura, who was outside thinking of something.

Sakura noticed the footsteps behind her and turned around.

Neji was standing there. Sakura was taken by surprise.

"Neji..," his name dropped from her lips.

"I---"

"I---" they both said at the same time.

"Thanks for …saving me," Sakura looked at Neji and blushed.

"It's fine. I came to tell you something," Neji said.

"Tell me something..?" Sakura asked Neji with an uncontrollable curiosity and expectation.

"I'm sorry about the other day. I could've spoken nicer. It seems like you've been misunderstanding something," Neji said.

Sakura did not say anything.

"I don't think anything of you..," Neji said simply.

"You don't? Is that true?" Sakura asked with hope in her eyes.

"It's just like what I said," Neji looked into Sakura's eyes. There seemed to be kindness in his eyes that made Sakura think that the words belied his true feelings.

"But I've always liked you!" Sakura retaliated with more energy.

"No you haven't," Neji shook his head.

"What?" Sakura said.

"I've done nothing for you, Sakura. We knew each other a long time ago. That's all. You've been directing your feelings at the wrong person," Neji said with a straight face.

It was absolutely true. Neji had not done anything for Sakura. She thought for a while and said, "Do you remember when we used to play with each other in my room?"

Neji said, "Yeah, I do."

Sakura went on, "Remember when we sneaked out of my room and explored the attic?" You tried to scare me but I screamed right into your ear and you had the ringing in your ear for a while." Sakura giggled.

Neji no longer had his stern face on. Kindness returned to his expression.

"And…And when you were hiding under my bed for the whole time when my mom came and gave me a long talk about my math test?" Sakura started laughing.

Neji was laughing, too. It felt like they were twelve years old again. Tears started dropping from Sakura's eyes but Sakura wiped them off and kept laughing. Sakura looked at Neji with her face angled at the ground.

"Neji..," Naruto said to himself.

Sasuke just watched the two laugh.

"Sakura," Neji said.

"Hmm?"

"I think there is someone who really cares about you," Neji said.

"Who?" Sakura asked.

"You have to find it out yourself," Neji replied. "That's all I have to say…"

"Oh…"

"I'm moving to another city," Neji said.

"You're moving?" Sakura asked surprised.

"I'm leaving after the camp," Neji answered.

"Why so sudden?" Sakura asked.

"It's been decided for a long time. I guess I really wanted to talk to you before I left," Neji looked at Sakura.

"Well, have fun there!" Sakura smiled.

Neji was not expecting to hear Sakura say that, but he smiled and said, "Thanks." He turned around and left. Sakura no longer felt sad or confused. She was clear about what she was feeling at that moment. It was same as Neji. It was a special friendship.

Sasuke and Naruto came out of the woods pretending like they were just coming back from a walk.

"Sakura-chan! Are you ok?" Naruto came over and asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's boring to be inside the tent alone, so I came out.

"Where is Ino?" Sasuke asked as he looked around.

"I don't know. I think she went for a walk," Sakura answered.

"Well, I actually have something to ask her, so I have to get going! I'll see you guys later!" Naruto waved and left.

"Neji is moving," Sakura said looking up at the sky.

"He is?" Sasuke asked as he looked at Sakura's face.

"Yeah. He didn't tell me where he was going but I hadn't really talked to him for a long time. I thought he had changed but he was still the same person inside. I thought I liked him but I think I was just missing the friendship we had…" Sakura said. "I think there is someone who really cares about you….you have to find it out yourself," Sakura heard Neji's voice in her head. "I hope he likes his new home," Sakura smiled and looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke blushed and looked away.

"I'm hungry," Sakura said.

"I have some snack bars in my backpack. I'll get some out for you," Sasuke said without looking at Sakura.

"Really? Thanks," Sakura said to Sasuke.

Sasuke went into the tent and came out with four snack bars. He gave two of them to Sakura.

"Protein Bars?" Sakura laughed.

"You don't have to eat it if you don't want," Sasuke said.

"No, I"ll eat it!" Sakura patted Sasuke's shoulder.

They sat down together and ate the snack bars. They were both hungry from the incident.

"I'm tired," Sakura sighed.

"Me, too," Sakura put his head down on his knees.

"We should get some rest," Sakura suggested.

They stood up and agreed to rest in their respective tent. Sakura looked at Sasuke before going into her tent. She saw a long scratch on Sasuke's arm. He had gotten it from the rocks in the river.

"Sasuke-kun...Your arm is bleeding," Sakura pointed at his arm.

Sasuke looked at his arm and said, "Oh …" He looked at Sakura and said, "It's nothing."

"No, you have to treat it or it may be infected! I have a first-aid kit in my back pack," Sakura went into her tent and came back swiftly with the first-aid kit. She came to Sasuke and gently treated the cut. Then, she wrapped gauze around his arm. Sasuke watched her concentrate on her work.

"Thanks," Sasuke said to Sakura.

"No problem. It's what I can do for you," Sakura smiled. Sasuke was happy.

They both went into their tent to get some rest. Sakura fell asleep immediately.

She opened her eyes and was surprised to see darkness. She looked at her watch. It was midnight. She could not sleep anymore. Ino was sound asleep. Sakura came out of her tent and breathed in the fresh air. She heard the crickets and frogs. She could hear the water from the stream. She thought about what happened earlier that day. When she fell off the raft, she saw Sasuke reach his hand out to her. She remembered Sasuke holding her tightly not to let her go. Sakura thought some more and returned to her tent.

The next day, the camp was called off because of the sudden weather change. All the students were driven back to school. Naruto and Sakura walked back home together.

"That was some camping experience," Sakura said to Naruto as she widened her eyes a little and sighed.

"Yeah, it was. Too bad you fell off your raft," Naruto said.

"It's ok…It happened. It actually wasn't too scary because Sasuke-kun was holding me for the whole time," Sakura said.

Naruto looked at Sakura. Sakura looked at Naruto.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing," Naruto grinned.

**Author Note**: I hope you liked the chapter. I think it's the longest I've written in this story. I'll appreciate any comments and reviews! Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 ---- The Seed of Love

Another week started. Sakura had been thinking of the accident at the camp all weekend. Although she could not have feelings for Sasuke because of Neji, now that Neji had come back to her to direct her to someone else, she was ready to open her heart. However, she still did not want to think too much about it. She did not want to suffer and torture herself because of a foolish assumption, like she did with Neji.

After school, Sakura was walking with Sasuke. They were chatting normally as they usually did. However, for some reason, the atmosphere was awkward and oftentimes, she could not find anything to say. They came to the bus stop.

"Ok, see ya tomorrow."

"Yeah. See ya."

They parted. Sakura was walking towards her home and someone came out of the park.

"Hey, hey, hey, pretty girl. Whatcha up to right now?"

The sloppy looking, middle-aged man stepped into Sakura's personal bubble. She felt frightened and tried to walk away.

"Hey, let's go somewhere. Just come with me," the man grabbed Sakura's wrist.

"Hey."

Sakura turned around. Sasuke was standing there, slightly panting, with his hand on the man's shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun!" her eyes widened.

"Let go of her," Sasuke gave the man an intense glare. His eyes said, "Back off."

"All right, all right," the man let go of Sakura and walked back into the park.

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun…But why are you here?" Sakura asked.

"I was walking home and overheard housewives talking about this guy that's been around approaching girls," Sasuke said solemnly.

Sakura thought it was kind of funny to hear that from Sasuke but she was happy that he came running for her.

"So, you came for me?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke was quiet for a while and said, "Yeah."

They were looking at each other. Sakura looked away.

"So, I'll walk you home," Sasuke said.

Sakura looked at Sasuke.

"Why is he doing this? I mean…I guess because..," Sakura wondered. "Thanks," she looked at him and smiled.

They started walking.

After a short moment, Sakura opened her mouth.

"So…how is your family?" ("_That was such a random question…_")

"Good"

"Mm… So…what's on your agenda this weekend?"

"Movies," Sasuke answered immediately.

"Movies? Which one?"

"The Ninja Spies."

"Oh, that. You like Ninjas?"

"Yeah…I've always like them since I was little."

"I'm a girl, so I'd be a kunoichi, right?"

"Right."

"Haha. I can't imagine myself as a kunoichi. That's kind of funny," Sakura said laughing.

"I think you'd be a pretty one."

Sakura stopped laughing.

"Did he just say I'd be a pretty one?" Sakura asked herself and asked Sasuke, "What? What did you say?"

Sasuke blushed and said, "….I said I think you'd be a pretty good one."

"Oh…Ok," Sakura said.

"Do you want to come to the movies?" Sasuke asked with a serious and half-worried face.

"Do…Do I want to come to the movies? You mean…with you?"

"…….Yeah," Sasuke bit his lips a little.

"Sure!" Sakura answered exuberantly.

Sasuke seemed to be smiling but it was hard to tell. Sakura was happy that he expressed his feelings and that she could sense them.

Sasuke was thinking of a conversation that he had with Naruto after lunch that day…

----------------------------------

As he was walking down the hallway, Naruto stopped him.

"Yo!"

"Hey."

"So, how's _it_ going?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto's face and looked away.

"You need to express your feelings to her. You know she's had enough of misunderstanding. She needs to know, for sure, what she is thinking."

"I'll protect her."

"_I'll protect her_," Naruto made a stern face and copied Sasuke with a low voice.

Sasuke sighed.

"All right. It's not that kind of thing, Sasuke. Yeah you can do that from behind a tree and following her around like a stalker, too. You've got to do something. Well… she likes movies. You can ask her out to one. Let's see. She might like 'Ninja Spies.'"

Sasuke was slightly panicking at Naruto's sudden suggestion.

"I don't go to the movies," Sasuke told Naruto.

"C'mon! That doesn't matter! Just… you know…Compliments are important, ok!"

Naruto patted Sasuke's shoulder and ran down the hallway, back to the classroom. Sasuke figured out that Naruto was not an expert at the matter, either.

----------------------------------

Naruto looked out the window from the second floor hallway. In the distance, he spotted Sakura and Sasuke walking together.

"Heh, heh!" Naruto brushed under his nose and went downstairs for a cup noodle.

**Author Note**: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I enjoyed reading the reviews while trying to fix a laptop adopter problem…and I'm back again to write! Please let me know what you think about the chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 ---- First Date

It was Saturday. Sakura and Sasuke decided to meet at the bus stop at noon.

Sasuke was standing at the bus stop waiting for Sakura. It was five minutes before noon and he had been standing there for at least fifteen minutes.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke saw Sakura running towards him. She was wearing a pink spaghetti strap tanktop and a white skirt. She was holding a white bag. As she ran, the skirt swayed in the air elegantly.

"Have you been waiting long?"

"No," Sasuke answered.

"Oh. Ok. I tried to get here at least five minutes before noon," Sakura said panting.

"You're right on time."

They started walking.

"I'm really excited for the movies. I haven't been to the movie theater for a long time," Sakura said.

"It should be a good movie. What time do you want to see it?"

"Um…anytime is fine with me"

"…There is 12:50, 1:40, 3:30, and 5:50 for reasonable times…Others are late," Sasuke said.

"Then…1:40?"

"Ok."

Since they had sometime before the movie started, Sakura and Sasuke decided to go to a café.

Since they had sometime until the show started, Sakura and Sasuke walked slowly.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Sakura asked.

"No, have you?" Sasuke replied.

"No. Do you want to stop by the book store café?"

"Sure."

Sakura and Sasuke went to Coco's café. It was a small, country style café.

As they sat down and had a small lunch, they chatted about the movie.

"I'm really excited," said Sakura.

"Yeah, it should be good," Sasuke answered.

At that moment, they saw lighting outside followed by thunder and sudden rain. Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other. She shot a glance at her watch. It was one o'clock.

"Sasuke-kun, it's 1."

"All right. We'd better get going."

Sasuke paid for the lunch and they went out of the café.

The rain did not seem to stop. They had no umbrella.

"Raining season..," Sasuke muttered.

On the other side of the road, Sasuke spotted a man who resembled Itachi, his brother. Sasuke unconsciously grabbed Sakura's hand. Sakura, surprised at Sasuke's sudden action, looked at him. Sasuke started running.

"Wha…What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked confusedly.

Her tank top was all wet and so was her hair and skirt.

Sasuke could not hear a word. He was too afraid to even check to see if it was really Itachi, standing beyond the city's congested traffic.

They kept running till they came to Konoha Department store. They went in.

"Sasuke-kun..," Sakura said panting.

"I'm sorry. I thought…I thought I saw my brother," Sasuke answered as he was trying to catch his breath.

"Your brother, Itachi?"

"Yeah, let's go, I may have been wrong about it…Just can't feel safe around him."

Sakura remembered the day when Itachi came back to the Uchiha household. It was more than painful to think about.

"But…did he run for me? I don't know if he would've run for himself…At least not that desperately," Sakura thought.

Sakura noticed that Sasuke was still holding her hand.

Sasuke, seeing Sakura staring at her hand held by his, let his hand go abruptly blushing. Sakura looked up and smiled.

It was about time for the show time.

"They took the elevator to the top floor where the movie theater was. Sasuke insisted on buying the ticket.

The room was huge. They found a pair of open seats in the middle row and sat down. The air conditioner was on and it was starting to get to the two because they were wet.

"It's kind of cold, don't you think?" Sakura asked Sasuke as she rubbed her arms.

Sasuke realized that Sakura was wearing a thin tank top. Sasuke looked around. There was no way out. The seats were packed with people and the movie previews started.

"I…I can put my arm on your shoulder…It might help," Sasuke said in a very low tone.

Sakura looked at him.

"Did he say…"

"Do you want to do that?" Sasuke asked her with a serious face.

"S…Sure. Yes. Yes, please," Sakura answered thinking, "Wow that came out really smoothly…"

Sasuke raised his arm and put it on her shoulders. Her cold shoulders felt warm.

She couldn't believe what was happening. Neither of them noticed that the movie had already started.

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun. It's warm," Sakura smiled. She was really happy.

Sasuke simply said, "No problem," but he was afraid that his arm would start shaking.

In the middle of the movie, there was a par where a ninja appeared out of no where while the main character was alertly walking through the dark corridor of the castle. This made the whole room scream. Sakura unconsciously grabbed Sasuke's hand that was hanging right next to her face.

Her eyes opened wide and she was surprised that she actually did it.

"I can't just let go…It'd be weird," Sakura thought.

Sasuke was looking at her surprised.

He felt Sakura's small but soft and slim hand trying to get away as she said, "Sorry!"

He bent his fingers and held onto Sakura's fingers.

Sakura was astonished and so was Sasuke himself. They did not know what to feel at the moment but they both figured out that that was what they wanted.

After the movie was over, Sakura and Sasuke stood up to get out to the isle. Sakura went out first and before Sasuke could, the crowds of people pouring out of all the rows went by and he could no longer see Sakura.

As soon as he found an opening, he zigzagged through the pool of people and finally got out to the lobby. However, Sakura was not standing there. Itachi's face flashed through Sasuke's brain.

"Sakura…Sakura!" he shouted.

Only people turned around to see what the loud call was for and he could not find Sakura.

Sasuke started searching for her frantically. Knowing Itachi, Sasuke knew that anything could happen to her.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke heard Sakura's voice.

He turned around and saw Sakura running towards him. She was waving.

Relieved, and somehow angry, Sasuke said, "Where were you?" Then he saw Itachi a few meters behind her in the crowd. His triumphant smirk sent an eerie chill through Sasuke's back. Sasuke ran forward and grabbed Sakura's hand tightly.

"Don't let go!" he said as he started running into the store section of the department store.

There were so many people that it was like running against a big tidal wave.

Sakura was also keeping up with Sasuke fearing Itachi. Sasuke was holding her hand so tightly that it almost hurt.

Sasuke saw an elevator. It was empty and was about to close. He pulled Sakura into it and the door shut. He pushed "G" for the ground level.

"I saw Itachi..," Sasuke said.

"What is the doing here? What does he want?" Sakura asked with a worried expression on her face.

The door opened. They went out and reached the exit.

The sky was clear and the rain had stopped. The road was wet and shining. They looked around for Itachi but he was seen no where.

"Sakura" Sasuke's grip got tighter.

"Hm?" Sakura looked at Sasuke.

"What time is it?"

"Oh…um…" The watch was on her left wrist and her left hand was gripped tightly by Sasuke's hand. She had to lift her arm to see the time. Sakura looked back up at Sasuke.

"Sakura…" Sasuke turned his body towards her still holding her hand. He looked at Sakura but did not see her eyes staring back at him in the way he was. "Right now, I'm taking you home. I want to make sure that you're safe. Itachi might be planning something again."

Sasuke took Sakura home. In front of her house, Sasuke said to her, "If anything is wrong around you, call me." His eyes were looking straight into her eyes.

"Thanks, I will. Get home safe, Sasuke-kun. I enjoyed today," Sakura smiled. She was not sure what she was feeling. Her heart should be open now but she still could give in to her own feelings.

Sasuke smiled a little and walked back home.

He knew that something was about to happen. Something disadvantageous to him.

As he turned the corner to his street, there stood Itachi with his back facing the sun.

**Author Note**: This chapter was a difficult one. A distraction for Sasuke's attempt to approach Sakura… Please let me know what you think. I will greatly appreciate any advice! Thank you again for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 ---- Challenge

"Yo," said Itachi with a sinister smile on his face.

"Itachi," Sasuke said.

"How was your date?"

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked alertly.

"I wanted to see how my brother was doing. That's all," Itachi chuckled.

Sasuke glared at Itachi.

"I just think that you're wasting your time. You're my brother. That pink-haired girl. Do you realize what you are doing? She is not meant to be part of your life."

"It's my concern, not yours—"

Itachi kicked Sasuke down and pinned him down on the ground with his foot.

Sasuke grunted and struggled to remove Itachi's foot off his chest.

"Stop dreaming. Do you really think that you can make her happy?"

Sasuke shoved Itachi's foot away and started to run back to Sakura's house.

Sasuke arrived at Sakura's house. He rang the doorbell. The door opened and Sakura's mom came out.

"Oh! Hi, Sasuke-kun! Are you looking for Sakura?"

"Yes. I…forgot to tell her something."

"Hmm…Did you not see her outside? She came home and went right back outside."

Sasuke had a bad feeling.

"I'll go find her. Thank you!" Sasuke ran down the road. He headed for Itachi. He turned the corner but there was no one. He looked around and saw only the rows of telephone poles along side the road.

Ring-Ring-Ring…

Sasuke heard a cell phone ring tone. He looked around and found a white cell phone at the bottom of a telephone pole.

"Hello," Sasuke answered.

"Sasuke-kun! Itachi's ---Ow!"

Sasuke heard Sakura's voice cut off.

"I've got your girl," ItacShi said.

"Where are you?" Sasuke asked.

"Where are we? If you want to know, we are at the Konoha Bay storages." Itachi hung up.

"Konoba Bay storages…"

Sasuke closed the cell phone and gripped it tightly. He noticed that there was a strap with a small kunoichi figure attached to it.

He ran for the main road to catch a taxi. Sasuke arrived at the Konoha Bay storages. The huge storages were lined up along the port. The shutters were shut. As soon as he got off the taxi, he spotted a van outside one of the storages. He ran for it but found no one in it. He looked around and found a door that led to the interior of the storage.

Sasuke opened the door. Inside was dim. He heard water dripping and the air was eerie. There were large metal containers stacked up everywhere.

"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted.

He heard no answer.

"Sakura!" He tried calling her once more.

He listened intently and scanned the area.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura came out from an aisle between the stacked containers.

Soon, two guys came chasing her and caught her.

"Let me go!" She shouted.

"Let go of her!" Sasuke shouted.

When he saw Sakura's face, her eyes opened widely as if she was stunned.

"Sasuke-kun! Watch out! Behind you!"

Sasuke turned around and was whacked by one of Itachi's underlings.

----

Sasuke opened his eyes.

"Good morning, Sasuke," Itachi said.

Sasuke came back to his senses and got up immediately. He found himself in a small room and his hands were tied on his back.

"Here is the game," Itachi said. "I'm going to give you an opportunity to realize what you really want."

Sasuke listened.

"All you have to do is," Itachi smirked, "survive."

At that moment, Sasuke heard a loud mechanic noise as the floor suddenly shook like an earthquake. The room was moving away from Itachi. Sasuke was confused. Soon, light came into Sasuke's sight. He finally realized that he was in a cargo crate.

"Remember, you can always give up and ask me for help. I'm your brother," Itachi shouted and showed a triumphant smirk on his face. Sasuke saw the two metal doors closing up.

"No! Stop that!" Sakura came to Itachi and started pulling his arms. Itachi shot a cold glance at her and pushed her down.

The cargo container fell into the water.

"Take her away," Itachi ordered his underlings. He stared at the floating container for a moment and turned around.

Sasuke walked around the unstable room looking for a way out. The door was locked from outside.

Sakura was taken up a tower crane above the water. She could see the container still floating on the water. She could see her box moving further from the ground. Sakura was afraid of height. She squatted down in fear.

"Someone help! Help!" Sakura tried shouting but her voice did not come out. She peeked out and saw the container almost sinking. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. However, she had a burning determination in her heart to save Sasuke.

Itachi was watching Sakura from a distance away. He could not help smiling. He looked at the cargo crate sinking into the water. He looked up at Sakura's crate and doubted his eyes. He saw Sakura jumping out of the crate. She fell into the water with a huge splash.

Sakura's body did not move to her wishes. It felt like it had become paralyzed from the fear and the shock of a sudden environment change. The greenish water and the temperature of it were not welcoming.

"Move!" Sakura shouted in her mind as she was sinking. Her body started to move. She swam to the surface. She looked around she saw no cargo crate. She saw Itachi and his underlings up on the concrete.

"Should I go get her?" one of the underling asked Itachi.

Itachi kept silent and watched Sakura.

She went underwater and spotted the cargo slowly sinking to the bottom. The bottom was not far below surface since it was right next to the land. Sakura pulled the bar on the door to the side to open the door. Her breath was coming close to its limit. She opened the door and found Sasuke. He was floating in the water. Sakura swam to get him and headed for the surface. The surface suddenly looked so far above. The sky was orange and the water was dim.

"Almost there…" Things started to look blur. Just as she exhaled her last breath left, in bubbles, someone grabbed her hand.

----

Sasuke opened his eyes. He was lying on a lukewarm concrete. As he coughed, he got up and looked around. Sakura was lying next to him. Things came back to his mind in a flashback. He was drowning in the crate.

"Sakura! Sakura!" Sasuke shouted. He hit Sakura's cheek lightly several times. Sakura started coughing.

"Sakura! Are you all right?" he asked.

Sakura got up and looked at Sasuke with her beady eyes. "Sasuke-kun…You're ok," she muttered and closed her eyes.

"Hey!" Sasuke caughter her in his arms. "Sakura!" He shook her.

----

Sasuke was carrying Sakura in his arms.

"Sasuke-kun, you can put me down now," Sakura said. "Thanks. I'm feeling better."

Sakura strood up in front of Sasuke. Sasuke looked at her face and blushed.

"I had something to give you," Sakura said. She reached into her pocket and took out a small, clear plastic bag. "I still have it," Sakura smiled. She took out a strap with a small ninja figure from the bag. He recognized it as the same strap as the one that was on Sakura's cell phone but with a different figure.

"I bought this after the movie. It was sold at the counter," Sakura held the strap in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke remembered when Sasuke panicked after the movie because Sakura was missing. He received the strap and then reached into his pocket. He took out Sakura's cell phone. Water was dripping from it.

"I still had it..," Sasuke said. Sakura laughed.

"It's a pair strap," Sakura said.

Sasuke was surprised that she bought the straps for him and herself.

"Sakura. Did you rescue me from the crate?" Sasuke questioned.

"I…I tried to. When I was up in the crate hanging from the construction crane, I was so scared. But when I thought about you sinking into the water, I thought of how you saved me in the water at the camp…" Sakura looke

"So you…Jumped off the crate?"

"Yeah. But it really wasn't bad, Sasuke-kun. You were the one that wasn't ok!" Sakura laughed a little since Sasuke's intense expression was scaring her a little.

Sasuke hugged Sakura tightly. Sakura was surprised.

"Sakura. I've always liked you," he said and put his head down.

"Sasuke-kun..," Sakura slowly put her arms around Sasuke's waist. "I'm sorry I didn't notice your feelings for a long time. The thing is…I didn't notice my own feelings for you until they came out of me." Sakura said.

Sasuke's feelings for her were stronger than his shock to find out about Sakura's having feelings for him. He kept hugging her tightly.

"You're brother. I think he is not a bad person," Sakura said.

"Itachi?"

"When I was swimming for the surface, I couldn't hold my breath anymore. Then someone grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. It was your brother."

Sasuke could not believe what she said.

"He didn't say anything but put us down and left."

"Itachi did that?" Sasuke was almost in a shock to know such side of Itachi.

They stopped hugging.

"Let's go home, Sakura," Sasuke said.

Sakura was looking down at the ground.

"Saku---"

Sakura turned to Sasuke and kissed him briefly. She looked at Sasuke's surprised face, which was orange with the setting sun. "Thanks." She smiled.

For the first time, Sasuke felt like screaming from the bottom of his lungs, but he smiled and said, "Sure."

Sasuke and Sakura went home together holding hands.

**Author Note**: I think this is the end. I might add something for fun, though. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading my story. Please let me know what you think!


	13. Chapter 13

--------------JUST FOR FUN-------------------

Sasuke work up to the sound of his alarm clock. After a while, he got up to turn it off. As he opened the curtain, bright sunshine flowed into the room.

"Sasuke! It's time for breakfast!" his mom called from downstairs.

Sasuke went out of his room and headed downstairs.

As Sasuke and his parents were having breakfast, someone came into the room. It was Itachi.

The three completely froze at the sight.

"Mom, Dad, and Sasuke…I'm sorry about everything. I realized that…that I was lacking the heart to love."

The three were still frozen in a complete shock.

"May I join you?" Itachi asked with a kind voice.

The three nodded.

Itachi came and sat next to Sasuke. As Sasuke looked at his brother, he looked at Sasuke, too, and smiled as if everything was normal.

----

"Sasuke! Sakura-chan is here!" his mom called him from downstairs. "Sasuke!"

Sasuke jumped out of his bed. It was his first official date with Sakura. Sasuke looked at his alarm clock and the alarm had already been turned off. Sasuke quickly got ready. He had prepared everything the night before. His clothes were already laid by the bed.

Sasuke ran down the stairs and Sakura was waiting at the door. She smiled and waved at him. She looked pretty with a bead necklace and a casual, one-piece dress, which had a touch of pink.

"Here you go. I made a box lunch," Sakura said and handed a box lunch wrapped in a pink bandana.

Sasuke blushed and received it. His mom contently watched the two interact.

Sasuke turned to his mom and said, "I'm off. I'll be back by 5."

"Have fun!" his mom said and waved.

Sasuke and Sakura went out the door and started walking towards the park.

"I had a strange dream," Sasuke started.

"A strange dream? What was it about?" Sakura asked.

"Itachi came home and he wanted to join the breakfast.…He looked like a normal person. It would have been eerie that way but it didn't feel like it."

"Maybe that's what Itachi really wants. Join the family again," Sakura said. "When he saved us out of the water, the way he grabbed my wrist was so similar to yours. I felt the same warmth in him." Sakura smiled.

"I've always resented him but I don't know why it's been that way. I don't know how it started," Sasuke said and sighed.

Sasuke and Sakura went into the park and sat on a bench.

"Sasuke-kun. Did you just get up?" Sakura just asked.

"…Yeah," Sasuke answered shyly.

"There is a piece of hair sticking up on your head," Sakura laughed.

Sasuke touched his hair with both hands.

"Here," Sakura pulled the piece of hair. Her lively smile comforted Sasuke.

Itachi was walking by the park and saw Sakura and Sasuke sitting next to each other laughing. There, clearly, was a bubble of happiness around them. Itachi stopped and watched them for a while. He did not notice that there was a smile on his face.

"Excuse me." Itachi heard a voice from below. He looked down and there was a little girl standing. "Could you get my balloon for me?" She pointed at the pink balloon that was stuck between the branches of a tree.

Itachi said, "Sure."

He climbed the tree and got the balloon for the little girl.

"Thank you!" the girl thanked him and went away happily.

The little girl was so lively and innocent. Itachi wondered how anyone could harm a girl like her. He, then, realized how he had changed and how the thought came out of him naturally. Itachi looked in the direction of Sasuke and Sakura. They were still sitting on the bench eating their lunch.

Itachi looked up to the clear sky and sighed. He inhaled the clean air. He saw the green leaves glittering with the sunshine. He looked down at his feet, looked up at the road, and headed home.

**Author Note**: I just wanted to put something at the end. This is supposed to be about a week after where the story ended last. I really enjoyed writing this and thank you so much for reading my first Fanfiction story. I've always loved writing stories and wanted to know how my story would fair as an online-published story. Thank you again for reading!

Madder88


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